Al Harrington says people need to chill out before comparing Robert Kraft to Donald Sterling ... telling TMZ Sports Kraft's prostitution scandal just proves "he's human" like everyone else.
We spoke with the ex-NBA star and asked how he would feel about the allegations against Kraft if he was currently playing for the Patriots. Remember, officials say Kraft paid for sex acts at a Florida massage parlor on two occasions.
The good news for Kraft, Harrington says it's no big deal -- and Patriots players shouldn't freak out over it.
"It just lets you know that he's human," Harrington says. "People like to do sh*t to have a good time."
"I don't think it's that big of a deal as long as he had nothing to do with the trafficking or whatever. I mean, who doesn't go to a massage parlor and may end up having a happy ending or something like that?"
Officials say Kraft was one of more than 100 men paying for sex acts at various massage parlors around Florida.
Investigators say the two women accused of running the prostitution ring were importing women from foreign countries and forcing them into sex slavery at the massage parlors.
Cops say it's the people using the establishments who help to fund the alleged human trafficking taking place behind the scenes.
Harrington says there's a huge difference between Kraft and Donald Sterling -- because Sterling was aggressively racist while Kraft seems to just be horny and making ill-informed decisions.
Of course, Sterling was blackballed by the NBA after his racism was captured on audiotape while explaining why he didn't want black people like Magic Johnson at his games.
Check out the clip ... Harrington also jokes that Meek Mill's been a bad influence on Kraft and tells us how he thinks the whole thing was a setup by the government.